View allAll Photos Tagged Springcleaning
Caught this little ladybug struggling to climb a piece of metal , all soiled n weary...thought to myself .....Life aint a bed of roses for anyone.
2016-04-12 0759-CR2-L1O2
Well,,,,it looked better to me when I packed everything away last fall. I started moving some of the summer stuff out today as it looks like the weather is finally going to move into spring to stay. I probably would of spent a little more time with this shot but my son had come over to help me with a couple things and he was ready to get started.
I've done a whole lot of Spring Cleaning this week. The ranch fence here was full of bird feeders all through the winter, and until a week or so ago. Now I've been hosing it down, and sprucing it up for the summer.
And, after much cleaning and sprucing up, I took my first image of the old Praktica camera that a friend gave me recently. In its life it has seen much excitement and experimentation - as it was used to shoot the aurora, and noctilucent clouds way back in the 1970s. So it has been stuck out of attic windows in all weathers to record the night sky! Now, in its retirement I can use it as a photographic subject ;o)
I thought it might be fitting as my SOOC shot for the 52 group - shooting an old camera with a new Sony RX10iii. The shot is as requested, SOOC. I only added a signature.
So HFF and have a lovely holiday weekend.
Also for the 52 in 2017 group. week#21 "SOOC"
Shot taken on May 23rd 2017.
My Fence Friday photos set: Elisa Fence Friday
My 52 in 2017 set: 52 in 2017
My Bokeh set: Elisa's bokeh set
My Everyday Things set is here: Elisa Everyday Things
How do evil tyrants keep the ceilings of their secret lairs cobweb free? how do you dust the inside of a hollowed out volcano? The answer is this very useful machine from Llwyngwril systems. Stable yet manoeuvrable, a highly practical machine.
ODC Our Daily Challenge: Shine or Shiny
the wet table's surface after running a rag with a cleanser, my only cleaning act - as shooting a photo was much more attractive ;-)
It was a wonderful spring day and I went to the wildlife park in Poing. I watched this goose cleaning her feathers and realized the wonderful bokeh from the glistening water in the background...
Es war ein wunderbarer Frühlingstag und ich ging in den Wildpark in Poing. Ich sah zu wie diese Gans ihre Federn putzte und erkannte das wundervolle Bokeh vom glitzernden Wasser im Hintergrund.
Had a chance to visit with an old friend Sunday morning prior to heading to the family for the holiday. After grabbing several snacks (i.e. fish), this Great White Egret finds a good perch to do some spring cleaning, oh I mean, preening! Enjoy!
Had a chance to visit with an old friend Sunday morning prior to heading to the family for the holiday. After grabbing several snacks (i.e. fish), this Great White Egret finds a good perch to do some spring cleaning, oh I mean, preening! Enjoy!
TED: "I'm takin' a brake frum the cookin' today... I'm doin' sum spring cleanin' instedd.
Got all me cleanin' produkts out of the cubberd an' filled a wash bowl up wiv soapy water, so now I'm gonna scrub this grubby wall.
Afterwards I'll run me Henry over the carpet an' then I'll sit down an' put me paws up wiv a cuppa tea!"
I straightened up my closet. I figure there should be some type major event to herald the occasion.
112/365
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ULANI:
"Sister, ... Do the others know you are going crab hunting at the beach with your friends today??!"
LILALYN:
"SSSSHHHHH ULANI !!!!! They think I have this bucket to help them finish our SPRING CLEANING !!"
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BLYTHE-A-DAY
A flickr Group
APRIL 2023
DAY 13: "SPRING CLEANING"
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Brushing the eggs Spic & Spam (free).
Collage made for the latest theme 'Spring' on kollagekit.blogspot.com/
Wickham Place is the London home of Lord and Lady Southgate, their children and staff. Located in fashionable Belgravia it is a fine Georgian terrace house.
Today we are below stairs in the Wickham Place kitchen. Lower maids Sarah and Tilly, and scullery maid Agnes have been sent back to London from the Southgate’s family estate in Buckinghamshire, ahead of all the other staff, to give the terrace a good spring clean before the family return for the commencement of the London Season. The boy from Mr. Willson the high-end Mayfair grocer has just delivered Mrs. Bradley’s order of groceries, telephoned through from Buckinghamshire and Agnes is charged with the job of readying the pantry and cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom in readiness for Cook’s return. Mrs. Blackheath the Housekeeper has hired some London girls to come and help Sarah and Tilly, as well as a char woman from Whitechapel to do some of the heavier work and Mrs Nelsong* the chimney sweep to clean the flues. Between them all they will make spick where speck was and span where squalor. On and around Cook’s deal table stand the all the paraphernalia that will be required to give Wickham Place a good spring clean.
“Agnes, put the kettle on whilst we wait for the hired girls to arrive.” Sarah says as she settles down onto a chair. “Might be our only time before lunchtime to have a nice cup.”
“Haven’t you got two hands?” mutters Agnes with unsuspected pluck that takes the two maids aback. “I’ve got Mr. Willson’s delivery to unpack! Two big boxes of dry and tinned goods, not to mention the baskets of vegetables by the door.”
“Oh please Agnes!” Tilly pleads. “Anyway, you’re the scullery maid, so you’re supposed to do for us.”
“You can do for yourselves.” Agnes sulks. “Anyway, I haven’t any milk for tea yet. The milk float hasn’t been through the square yet.”
“I hate spring cleaning,” mutters Sarah.
“Me too!” groans Tilly. “Why do we always get lumped with the hard graft?”
“What are you two complaining for? Mrs. Blackheath has hired local skivvies to help you, and no doubt for you to boss around. I get no-one to help me, and I have to black lead the whole range before Mrs. Bradley gets here on Thursday.”
“The girls will need bossing without Mrs. Blackheath here to keep them in line. Remember the skivvies we had last year Sarah?”
“Do I ever Tilly! Laziest skivvies I’ve ever seen.”
“They’d have to be, to outdo you on that score,” mutters Agnes quietly under her breath.
“What was that Agnes?” pipes up Sarah, jumping up from her seat.
“I was just saying that you two had better make a start then,” Agnes replies, thinking quickly. “If they are going to be lazy.
“I hate to say it Sarah, but she’s right,” says Tilly. “Come on. The sooner we start the sooner we can finish.”
“Right-oh Tilly. Let’s go.”
The two maids start gathering up the mop, broom, tin buckets and cleaning agents to start their spring clean.
The Wickham Place kitchens are situated on the ground floor of Wickham Place, adjoining the Butler’s Pantry. It is dominated by big black leaded range that Agnes has to clean, and next to it stands a heavy dark wood dresser that has been there for as long as anyone can remember. There is a white enamelled sink to one side with deep cupboards to house the necessary cleaning agents the scullery maid needs to keep the kitchen clean for the cook. In the middle of the kitchen stands Cook’s preserve, the pine deal table on which she does most of her preparation for both the meals served to the family upstairs and those for the downstairs staff.
*Mrs May Nelsong was a real person. With her name often mistakenly spelt as ‘Nelson’, Mrs. Nelsong was the only female chimney sweep in London. She lived in East Clapham and cleaned chimneys throughout London before the Second World War. She was so famous she even featured in Churchman’s ‘In Town Tonight’ cigarette card series.
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.
This week the theme, “spring” was chosen by Gary, Gazman_AU.
I know we usually think of flowers and baby birds when spring is mentioned, so I thought I’d try and do something a bit different, so I’ve created another “downstairs” tableaux is made up of part of my 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures collection. Some pieces come from my own childhood like the ladderback chair. Other items I acquired as an adult through specialist online dealers and artisans who specialise in realistic 1:12 size miniatures.
Fun things to look for in this tableaux include:
The feather duster in the bucket made myself using fledgling feathers (very spring) which I picked up off the lawn one day thinking they would come in handy in my miniatures collection sometime. I bound them with thread to the handle which is made from a fancy ended toothpick!
On the table we have box of Sunlight soap, some Conco Vinegar and a package of Borax: cleaning essentials in any Edwardian household. Sunlight Soap was first introduced in 1884. It was produced at Port Sunlight in Wirrel, Merseyside, a model village built by Lever Brothers for the workers of their factories which produced the popular soap brands Lux, Lifebuoy and Sunlight. Although first discovered in the Eighth Century in Tibet, Borax came into common use in the late Nineteenth Century when it was used in Victorian and Edwardian households as an early laundry detergent and whitener. However, it was also useful for getting rid of stains, mould and mildew off walls. Although I can find no listings for the Conco brand of vinegar, vinegar has many uses for cleaning a home.
Behind the box, next to the brass kettle is a box containing a bottle of Buffalo Ammonia. The American Bluing Company established in 1873 and located in Buffalo New York manufactured Buffalo Ammonia. The brand still exists today but is now known as an all-purpose spiritual cleanser which invokes the power of the sacred buffalo of the Native Americans. Interestingly, it has the same label as the original Victorian Buffalo Ammonia.
In front of the box is can of Vim and some Zeebo Grate Polish, also common cleaning agents in any Edwardian household. Vim scouring powder was created by William Hesketh Lever (1st Viscount Leverhulme) and introduced to the market in 1904. It was produced at Port Sunlight in Wirrel, Merseyside, a model village built by Lever Brothers for the workers of their factories which produced the popular soap brands Lux, Lifebuoy and Sunlight. Zebo (or originally Zebra) Grate Polish was a substance launched in 1890 by Reckitts to polish the grate to a gleam using a mixture that consisted of pure black graphite finely ground, carbon black, a binding agent and a solvent to keep it fluid for application with a cloth or more commonly newspaper.
On the brick floor of the kitchen in front of the bucket and green bottle of disinfectant are two tins of polish. Created in the late 1800s by Reckitts, Red Cardinal tile polish is used for stone, clay, cement, unglazed tiles and brickwork to brighten and bring out the red in them. It is still available from specialist suppliers to this day. Mansion Polish was produced by the Chiswick Polish Company from around the turn of the Twentieth Century. Suitable as a floor or furniture wax, it promoted health and hygiene, and it too is still available today from specialist cleaning stockists.
The Edwardians were wonderful advertisers of products. The boxes that the provisions from Mr. Wilson’s grocery have arrived in advertise Sunlight Soap, the origins of which are described above, and Brasso. Brasso Metal Polish is a British all-purpose metal cleaning product introduced to market in 1905 by Reckitt and Sons, who also produced Silvo, which was used specifically for cleaning silver, silver plate and EPNS. Brasso could easily be used by Agnes to keep the copper kettle and other metal items around the kitchen gleaming. Both Brasso and Silvo are still produced today and can be found on supermarket shelves worldwide.
The tin buckets, enamel bowls, mop, scrubbing brush and birchwood broom are all artisan made miniatures that I have acquired in more recent years.
The bottle of purple liquid next to the larger of the tin buckets is the only non-period piece, but I couldn’t resist including it, as I doubt I will ever be able to photograph it as part of any other tableaux. Thus, I hope you will forgive me for this indulgence. It’s a bottle of Gough’s Lavender disinfectant. Gough’s was one of a number of products produced by the Sunshine Bleach Company in Melbourne’s western suburb of Sunshine between 1953 and 1961. The Sunshine Bleach Company was set up by Scottish immigrants Ann and David Gough. The Gough family produced around six cleaning products over their decade of business including Pine Fume disinfectant, Nylozone, Perfectant, Dai-Zone and Gough’s Lavender.
(title inspired by a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, with lyrics by Irving Mills)
Have a happy Tuesday!
most handed down from my maternal great grandmother....one thrifted....and a couple of blankets :)
EXPLORED! #340 Thanks!!
We did eventually take the tree down -- and move to a different house. I wonder where this spring got to...
At least some of us are on top of these tasks -- I still have my Christmas tree up.
BaD 16 March 2019: Spring Cleaning
Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.
Today however we are not in Lettice’s flat. Instead, we have followed Lettice south-west, through the neighbouring borough of Belgravia to the smart London suburb of Pimlico and its rows of cream and white painted Regency terraces. However, Lettice is not standing before one of these, but before a smart red brick Edwardian set of three storey flats on Rochester Row. Looking up, Lettice admires the red and white banding details of the building, macabrely known after the Great War as ‘blood ‘n’ bandages’ stripes. The beautiful façade features bay windows and balconies with ornate Art Nouveau cast iron balustrades. One of them is now the residence of recently arrived American film actress Wanetta Ward.
Approaching the front door Lettice sees the newly minted shiny brass plaque amongst those of the residents with Wanetta’s name emblazoned on it in neat, yet bold, engraved letters. She pushes open the heavy black painted front door with the leadlight windows and walks into the deserted communal foyer and takes the stairs up to flat number four, her louis heels echoing loudly throughout the cavernous space illuminated by a lightwell three floors above. Stopping on the first floor landing before a door painted a uniform black, but without the leadlight, bearing the number four in polished brass, she presses the doorbell.
From deep within the flat the sound of a bell echoes hollowly, implying what Lettice hopes – that the flat is now empty of its previous resident’s possessions. She waits, but when no-one comes to open the door, she presses the doorbell for longer. Once again, the bell echoes mournfully from deep within the flat behind the closed door. Finally, a pair of shuffling footsteps can be heard along with indecipherable muttering and a familiar fruity cough as the latch turns.
“Mrs. Boothby!” Lettice exclaims, coming face-to-face with her charwoman* as the old Cockney woman opens the door to the flat.
“Well, as I live an’ breave!” she exclaims in return with a broad and toothy smile. “If it ain’t Miss Lettice! G’mornin’ mum!” She bobs a curtsey. “You must be ‘ere to see Miss Ward. C’mon in.”
Lettice walks through the door held open by Mrs. Boothby and steps into a well proportioned vestibule devoid of furnishings, but with traces of where furniture and paintings once were by way of tell-tale shadows and outlines on the floor and walls.
“Come this way, mum. She’s just through ‘ere in the drawin’ room.” Mrs. Boothby says, leading the way, her low heeled shoes slapping across the parquetry floors.
“But how is it that you are here, Mrs. Boothby?” Lettice asks in bewilderment.
“Well, you know ‘ow I ‘as me friend Jackie, what cleans for you when I’s sick?” Lettice nods pointlessly to the back of the old woman’s head, but she continues as if sensing it through the rear of her skull. “Well, she got this cleanin’ job to tidy up after the last man up an’ left, and couldn’t do it on ‘er own, so she asked me to ‘elp. So ere I is, and we is just in ‘ere.”
The pair walk through a door into a light filled room devoid of furniture except for an old chair without its cushioned seat and two rather imposing built-in bookshelves either side of an old white plaster fireplace. A second charwoman is busy sweeping up the broken fragments of an old blue and white bowl with her dustpan and broom and depositing them into an old wooden crate that must once have held apples according to the label. The room is silent, but for the sound of sweeping and the clatter of crockery shards, and the sounds echo throughout the empty space. In the world outside Lettice can hear the clatter of horses hooves and the purr of a motor cars from street below. Lettice immediately spots Wanetta’s lucky pink hat covered in silk flowers hanging off the back of the solitary chair and her brass handled walking stick that she uses for affect leaning against it. And there, silhouetted against the light pouring through the bay window overlooking Rochester Row stands the elegant and statuesque figure of Wanetta Ward, the morning highlighting the edges of her hair in auburn.
“S’cuse me mum, I’s gotta get back to me dustin’.” Mrs. Boothby says as she goes over to the fireplace and picks up a feather duster.
“Miss Chetwynd, darling!” Miss Ward exclaims with delight, spinning elegantly around and striding towards Lettice with open arms.
Lettice allows herself somewhat awkwardly to be enveloped by the American’s overly familiar perfumed embrace. Dressed in a smart black suit, Lettice notices the accents of pink that match Wanetta’s lucky hat on the collar of her jacket and the hem of her calf length skirt.
“How do you do Miss Ward.”
“Oh, just tickety-boo**, I think you British say.” Miss Ward enthuses. “Except you’re still calling me Miss Ward, and not Wanetta, like I told you to.” She wags a grey glove clad finger at Lettice.
“I think,” Lettice remarks, carefully choosing her words but speaking firmly. “That would add a certain… overfamiliarity to our professional relationship. I’m sure you’ll agree.”
“Oh you British are such stuffed shirts***,” Miss Ward flaps her arms dismissively at Lettice. “But have it your own way. So,” She spins around, stretching out her arms expansively in a dramatic pose. “What do you think?”
Lettice looks around at the spacious room. “It’s very elegantly proportioned from what I’ve seen so far.”
“So, do you think it will suit a young up-and-coming film star?”
“I take it the screen test went well then, Miss Ward?” Lettice smiles at her hostess.
“Meet Islington Studio’s**** newest actress!” the American woman exclaims with a cocked manicured eyebrow as her painted pink lips curl in a proud smile.
“Congratulations Miss Ward! That’s wonderful news!”
“Thank you, darling. I play my first part next week.”
“Excellent! I shall look forward to hearing more as the weeks go by.”
“You mean?” Miss Ward gasps, clasping her hands in hope. “You’ll take me on?”
“I think so, Miss Ward.” Lettice replies. “It will be quite fun to have a completely clean slate to work with.”
“Oh, you darling, darling girl!” Miss Ward jumps up and down on the balls of her feet in delight.
Mrs. Boothby’s friend Jackie looks up from her floor polishing and discreetly shakes her head at the American woman’s dramatic outburst.
“Miss Ward, tell me about the treatment you were hoping for in here.” Lettice asks, looking around at the old fashioned flocked wallpaper.
Miss Ward starts to stalk around the room. “Now, I want colour, darling! My favourite colour is yellow, so I was thinking yellow vases, lamps, glassware, that sort of stuff.”
“I see,” Lettice listens attentively, nodding. “I can see if my Italian contacts can find some nice Murano glass for you.”
“Excellent! Excellent!” The American claps her painted fingers in delight. Gesticulating energetically around the room to imaginary tables and pedestals she adds, “And remember, I want oriental too!”
“I have an excellent merchant right here in London who imports the most wonderful items from the far east. You might even find you possess a little piece of Shanghai, Miss Ward.”
“Sounds perfect, darling! Now, I was thinking that with these bookcases pulled out, this will make a wonderful wall for vibrantly coloured wallpaper.” She stretches her arms dramatically in two wide arcs, as if representing the daring colour that she envisages in her mind. “Something with a bold pattern.”
“And how does your new landlord feel about you having these bookshelves removed?”
“Oh! Captain Llewellyn? He won’t mind, so long as I smile prettily and bat my eyelashes enough.” the American woman giggles.
“That’s not Captain Wynn Llewellyn, by chance, is it Miss Ward?”
“Why yes darling!” She beams another of her bright smiles. “Do you know him?”
“Yes, Miss Ward. He’s a family friend.”
“Gosh! What a small world!”
“Too right it is!” pipes up Mrs. Boothby from in front of the bookshelves she is busily dusting, whilst carefully eavesdropping on every word in the conversation between the two ladies. “She knows me ‘n all!”
“You do?” Miss Ward gives the old charwoman a doubtful look and then Lettice a questioning one.
“Mrs. Boothby cleans for me every week, Miss Ward.” Lettice elucidates.
The American nods. “Well, a girl like you must know everyone there is to know in London, darling.”
Lettice blushes at the candid remark and looks away, hiding her embarrassment whilst she composes herself. “Well, at least in this case I know your landlord, so there shouldn’t be any trouble with removing the bookshelves. Now, I must say that with such wonderful light in here, I really do think you’ll need some white to offset the bold colours you want.”
“White?” Miss Ward whines. “But I just said I want colour. No white!” She pouts her lips petulantly, which silently Lettice admits gives her a smouldering look which perhaps explains how she succeeded with her screen test. “White is so… so… white, and boring.”
“It won’t be boring the way I use it, Miss Ward, I can assure you.” Lettice wanders over to the fireplace, carefully and politely avoiding the area that Mrs. Boothby’s friend Jackie just polished. Picking up a small white vase sitting on the mantlepiece she continues, “You need something to temper bright colours. If I am to be your interior designer, Miss Ward, you are going to have to trust my judgement.” She turns the vase over in her hands thoughtfully. “I promise you that I won’t lead you astray.”
“Alright,” Miss Ward replies, looking doubtfully at Lettice. “But not too much white.”
“With bold colours and patterns, dark furnishings, some golden yellow elements and white accents as I suggest, your flat will exude elegance and the exoticism of the orient,” Lettice purrs reassuringly, replacing the vase on the mantlepiece. “Just as you desire.”
“Well…”
“Where will you be staying whilst your flat is redecorated, Miss Ward?” Lettice boldly speaks over Miss Ward, swiftly crushing any disagreement.
“At the Metropole***** near the Embankment.”
“Excellent. What I will do is create some sketches for you with my ideas for your interiors and then we can meet at the Metropole for tea, in say a week or so. Then you can see my vision and you may pass your judgement.”
“Very well, darling.” the American woman replies meekly.
“Wonderful!” Lettice smiles happily. “Now, you’d best show me around the rest of the flat so I can envision what it could look like. It’s quite inspiring, you know!”
“Then please, step this way and I’ll show you my future boudoir.” Miss Ward says, suddenly regaining her confidence and sense of drama. Purposefully, she strides towards the drawing room door, indicating for Lettice to follow her with a flourishing wave that is fit for a rising film star with the world at her feet.
As Lettice moves to join her newest client on a tour of the rest of the flat, she stops short and turns back.
“Oh Mrs. Boothby.”
“Yes mum?” the old Cockney woman asks.
“Please don’t dispose of that vase. Just leave it on the mantlepiece if you would.” She points across the room to the vase sitting forlornly. “I have plans for it.” she muses quietly.
*A charwoman, chargirl, or char, jokingly charlady, is an old-fashioned occupational term, referring to a paid part-time worker who comes into a house or other building to clean it for a few hours of a day or week, as opposed to a maid, who usually lives as part of the household within the structure of domestic service. In the 1920s, chars usually did all the hard graft work that paid live-in domestics would no longer do as they looked for excuses to leave domestic service for better paying work in offices and factories.
**Believed to date from British colonial rule in India, and related to the Hindi expression “tickee babu”, meaning something like “everything's alright, sir”, “tickety-boo” means “everything is fine”. It was a common slang phrase that was popular in the 1920s.
***The phrase “stuffed shirt” refers to a person who is pompous, inflexible or conservative.
****Islington Studios, often known as Gainsborough Studios, were a British film studio located on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in Shoreditch, London which began operation in 1919. By 1920 they had a two stage studio. It is here that Alfred Hitchcock made his entrée into films.
***** Now known as the Corinthia Hotel, the Metropole Hotel is located at the corner of Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall Place in central London on a triangular site between the Thames Embankment and Trafalgar Square. Built in 1883 it functioned as an hotel between 1885 until World War I when, located so close to the Palace of Westminster and Whitehall, it was requisitioned by the government. It reopened after the war with a luxurious new interior and continued to operate until 1936 when the government requisitioned it again whilst they redeveloped buildings at Whitehall Gardens. They kept using it in the lead up to the Second World War. After the war it continued to be used by government departments until 2004. In 2007 it reopened as the luxurious Corinthia Hotel.
Although this may appear to be a real room, this is in fact made up with 1:12 miniatures from my miniatures collection.
Fun things to look for in this tableau include:
The Chippendale dining room chair is a very special piece. Part of a dining setting for six, it came from the Petite Elite Miniature Museum, later rededicated as the Carol and Barry Kaye Museum of Miniatures, which ran between 1992 and 2012 on Los Angeles’ bustling Wiltshire Boulevard. One of the chairs still has a sticker under its cushion identifying from which room of which dollhouse it came. The Petite Elite Miniature Museum specialised in exquisite and high end 1:12 miniatures. The chair is taken from a real Chippendale design.
Wanetta’s lucky pink hat covered in silk flowers, which hangs of the back of the chair on the right is made by Miss Amelia’s Miniatures in the Canary Islands. It is an artisan miniature made just like a real hat, right down to a tag in the inside of the crown to show where the back of the hat is! 1:12 size miniature hats made to such exacting standards of quality and realism are often far more expensive than real hats are. When you think that it would sit comfortably on the tip of your index finger, yet it could cost in excess of $150.00 or £100.00, it is an extravagance. American artists seem to have the monopoly on this skill and some of the hats that I have seen or acquired over the years are remarkable. Miss Amelia is an exception to the rule coming from Spain, but like her American counterparts, her millinery creations are superb. Like a real fashion house, all her hats have names. This pink raw silk flower covered hat is called “Lilith”. Wanetta’s walking stick, made of ebonized wood with a real metal knob was made by the Little Green Workshop in England.
In front of the basket is a can of Vim with stylised Art Deco packaging and some Kleeneze floor polish. Vim was a common cleaning agent, used in any Edwardian household. Vim scouring powder was created by William Hesketh Lever (1st Viscount Leverhulme) and introduced to the market in 1904. It was produced at Port Sunlight in Wirrel, Merseyside, a model village built by Lever Brothers for the workers of their factories which produced the popular soap brands Lux, Lifebuoy and Sunlight. Kleeneze is a homeware company started in Hanham, Bristol. The company's founder, Harry Crook, had emigrated to the United States with his family several years earlier, and whilst there joined Fuller Brush as a sales representative. He returned to Bristol several years later, and started a business making brushes and floor polish which were sold door-to-door by salesmen. Technically Kleeneze didn’t start until 1923, which is two years after this story is set. I couldn’t resist including it, as I doubt I will ever be able to photograph it as a main part of any other tableaux. Thus, I hope you will forgive me for this indulgence.
In the basket is a second can of Vim with slightly older packaging, some Zebo grate polish and a can of Brasso. Zebo (or originally Zebra) Grate Polish was a substance launched in 1890 by Reckitts to polish the grate to a gleam using a mixture that consisted of pure black graphite finely ground, carbon black, a binding agent and a solvent to keep it fluid for application with a cloth or more commonly newspaper. Brasso Metal Polish is a British all-purpose metal cleaning product introduced to market in 1905 by Reckitt and Sons, who also produced Silvo, which was used specifically for cleaning silver, silver plate and EPNS.
The tin buckets, wooden apple box, basket, mop, brush, pan and birchwood broom are all artisan made miniatures that I have acquired in more recent years. Sadly, the broken bowl is a result of an accident, which is unusual for me. When this bowl arrived it was wrapped in a small sealable plastic bag which slipped from my fingers and the blue and white porcelain bowl shattered on my slate kitchen floor where I unpack my parcels! I kept it as a reminder to be careful when unpacking my miniature treasures. Don’t worry, I have a replacement bowl which I am very careful with.
The feather duster on the fireplace mantle I made myself using fledgling feathers (very spring) which I picked up off the lawn one day thinking they would come in handy in my miniatures collection sometime. I bound them with thread to the handle which is made from a fancy ended toothpick!
The little white vase on the mantlepiece is mid Victorian and would once have been part of a doll’s tea service. It is Parian Ware. Parian Ware is a type of biscuit porcelain imitating marble. It was developed around 1845 by the Staffordshire pottery manufacturer Mintons, and named after Paros, the Greek island renowned for its fine-textured, white Parian marble, used since antiquity for sculpture. The vase and a matching jug I picked up as part of a job lot at auction some years ago.
The Georgian style fireplace I have had since I was a teenager and is made from moulded plaster.
The flocked wallpaper is beautiful hand impressed paper given to me by a friend who encouraged me to use it as wallpaper for my 1:12 miniature tableaux.
In this space I can place an ikea Billy, nbix these and some other dolls, this creating less clutter and streamlining the rooms overall look!
I can also unbox the small MonsterHigh, EverAfterHigh, and MyScene dolls that I have as well!!
#springcleaning #gettingorganized
Also buy DOORS!! Dusting is hard work!!!
Charlotte, Cherry, and Brigette cleaning the kitchen. I added an azalea border to a photo from last year.🌸🌺 The azaelas grow next to our driveway.
a common meadow katydid (orchelimum vulgare) after realizing that, no matter the compositional potential at hand, one mustn't present with an unclean ovipositor
capture taken at a local butterfly conservatory